My American high school education, including three years of Spanish, did not prepare me for classes at Colegio Aleman in Quito some twenty nine years ago. In the U.S., I had been a good student with primarily As and some Bs at my public high school. I graduated in the top ten percent of my class. I was an officer in the local chapter of the National Honor Society, a cheerleader, and editor-in-chief of our high school yearbook. I was a big fish in a small pond.

At Colegio Aleman, I was a small fish in a completely foreign pond. I was enrolled as a “sociales” student meaning most my classes were in the social science field. One problem was there were no textbooks for any of the classes. The classes were taught as lectures. With my limited Spanish ability, I was able to focus on what the teacher was saying and get a basic understanding of the class, but not have any notes to refer back to in order to study. Or, I could attempt to copy down what I heard, but then I would not have any idea what the lesson was actually about. And the notes didn’t make much sense. I tried copying other people’s notes after class and during breaks. I just couldn’t keep up.

Another problem was that most of the sociales classes were subjects that I had never studied and didn’t have a background in. The History of Latin America, the History of Ecuador, the History of the Laws of Ecuador, and Social Psychology were completely unfamiliar to me. Even the math was more complicated than what I had studied in Calculus. I did ok in English class, but in German class I was completely lost. I don’t speak a word of German.

I learned an important lesson about promptness twenty-nine years ago at my first Rotary Intenational Club function with the Quito Norte Club in Ecuador. While my host parents, Alejandro and Elsie, and I weren’t late to the function, we were some of the last to arrive. In polite society, introductions were required. So, one by one, Elsie and I approached every woman in the large meeting room. First, she kissed the other woman on the cheek, as was the custom. The kiss was returned. Pleasantries were exchanged. Then Elsie introduced me. I kissed my new acquaintance on the cheek and my kiss was returned. I answered the polite inquiries about my time in Ecuador thus far. And then together, Elsie and I approached the next woman. Rinse. Repeat. While Elsie and I handled the greetings with the women, Alejandro was greeting his peers with firm handshakes. Clearly, it would have been better to have been among the first people at the meeting to avoid “The Great Introductory Tour of October 1985”.

In the course of working the room together, I made an exciting discovery. There were other American exchange students! At this function! I met Carol from Vermont, Suzy from New York, and Cindy from New Jersey. I was told there were two boys, Ray from Massachusetts and Rich from Pennsylvania, also in Quito. Compatriots! Each was living with a host family in Quito. In August, they had traveled together in a group to Ecuador. I had not met them until this function because I had met Elsie and Alejandro in Miami and traveled with them to Quito. I had no idea there were other Americans participating in the exchange program. I was delighted!

I did not know it that evening, but having met my fellow Americans would change the dynamic of my student exchange experience. I would have peers who I could talk to about my experiences in Ecuador and friends to hang out with. I did not feel so alone knowing Carol, Suzy, Cindy, Ray, and Rich were in Quito having experiences similar to mine. I had made it through my first month of the exchange totally on my own, homesick at times. Now I had American friends in Ecuador.